The Yankees were swept in four games by the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series and headed home with a lot of question marks surrounding 2013.

Despite winning the American League East and owning the A.L.'s best record in 2012, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi have a lot of game-planning for the next season ahead of them.

What issues do the Yankees need to focus on?

What free agents do the Yankees need to re-sign or bring in?

What trades could the Bombers look into for 2013.

I will cover all of that in this complete guide and preview to the New York Yankees offseason plan.

Lets take a look at what Cashman and Girardi need to get done before pitchers and catchers report in February.

Re-Sign Andy Pettitte

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Andy Pettitte shocked the entire baseball world back in March when he came out of retirement to pitch for the Yankees in 2012.

After a year away from baseball, Pettitte was pitching sensationally until he took a liner off his ankle against the Cleveland Indians back in June, which put him on the sideline for nearly three months with a fractured ankle.

He returned in late September and finished with a 5-4 record with a 2.87 ERA in 12 starts. In the postseason, Pettitte went 0-1 with a 3.29 ERA.

Pettitte could have won both of his postseason starts if he had gotten a shred of run support from his team. Despite that, Pettitte still pitched very well for the Yankees.

My gut feeling is that Pettitte is coming back because he didn't get a chance to pitch a full season. Plus, given the fact that he's such a fierce competitor, he'll want one more crack at a sixth World Series.

Once he makes his decision, the Yankees need to sign him quickly. I think a one-year, $11 million deal should be enough to get it done.

Re-Sign Hiroki Kuroda

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Back in January, the Yankees made two big moves to the pitching staff.

The first one was trading Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda, which has yet to work out considering Pineda missed the entire 2012 season with a shoulder injury and is not expected to be in the 2013 plans.

The other was signing Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year deal, which turned out to be a brilliant move.

Kuroda went 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA in 33 starts and tossed 219.2 innings, which were really good numbers considering Kuroda was considered a "National League only pitcher," yet he thrived in the American League.

If Kuroda wants to come back to New York, he's earned a spot in the rotation, and Brian Cashman may even have to give him a raise from the $10 million he got in 2012.

What will be interesting to see is if Kuroda gets any multi-year offers from any other teams.

If I am Cashman, a two-year, $27 million offer for Kuroda would be a good starting point on a deal.

Gauge Ichiro Suzuki's Future Plans

Before the trade deadline in July, the Yankees pulled off a shocker of a deal with the Mariners, landing long-time outfielder Ichiro Suzuki for two minor leaguers.

In 67 games with the Yankees, Ichiro hit .322 while stealing 14 bases and playing all three outfield positions.

In the postseason, Ichiro was one of the few Yankees that actually hit in October, as he hit .282 (11-for-39) overall. In the ALCS, he hit .353 (6-for-17), very good numbers for an offense that tanked against the Tigers.

Now a a free agent, Ichiro has a decision to make.

He could come back to the Yankees, likely on a one-year deal. Or, he could look to play elsewhere and try to get a multi-year deal based off how well he performed in the second half with the Yankees.

He's not worth $17 million per season, but he could get anywhere from $7-9 million from a team looking for offense.

I think if Ichiro gets more money or more years from another team, the Yankees will let him walk.

Do They Bring Back Russell Martin?

Replacing a Yankee legend like Jorge Posada was no easy task, but Russell Martin was very durable behind the plate.

Despite hitting just .211, Martin hit 21 home runs for the Yankees and really came on strong in September for the Bombers, which is a big reason why he got his average over the .200 mark.

The 20 home runs is a plus in the offense, but Martin is so valuable because of how he manages a pitching staff along with his defense behind the plate.

What might have hurt Martin's value is his poor October for the Yankees, hitting .161 (5-for-31) with one home run.

Despite the poor numbers in October and the low batting average in the regular season, Martin is one of the top catchers on the market and the Yankees could be looking to bring him back for a few more seasons.

They could look to other options like Mike Napoli and A.J. Pierzynski, but I see them going elsewhere.

I think Martin comes back to the Yankees for a three year, $20 million deal.

Mauer is due another six years and $138 million, a contract I'm sure Minnesota would love to move off their payroll going forward, considering they put Mauer on waivers during the summer.

If the Yankees don't bring Martin back as the catcher and want to look at ideas for the catcher spot, Mauer is an interesting one, although a very expensive one.

Although, according to Reuter's story, adding Mauer over Josh Hamilton in free agency would be a better move for the Yankees given Hamilton's baggage, injuries and age.

If the Yankees could get Mauer, it would be a nice move for the offense, adding a hitter instead of a slugger like Hamilton.

As far as current players go, we've talked about Granderson and A-Rod being potential trade targets, but if I had to pick two potential candidates who could get dealt this winter, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes could end up being shipped out.

Both pitchers are still young with a lot of value to a team who could use them to re-tool their starting rotation.

But that's just me guessing there.

Heading into the winter, the Yankees have a lot of planning to figure out before the start of 2013, and because of the early elimination by the Tigers, Brian Cashman gets to start planning it now.